Sold

Over the past two years, I had almost decided I would never be able to see that word on the real estate sign in our yard. Two years. It was so stressful, I can't even explain. During the time we had our house for sale, I got pregnant, had the baby, and now he is almost 14 months old. Having three boys in a house for sale was no fun, to say the least.
I don't want to revisit the whole situation right now. We closed this afternoon, and we are so relieved. We have about 3 weeks till we move. The rental is still in final negotiations. "Onward and Upward," as my husband has been saying all week.

living with a landlord

Oh yeah. I just realized that when we rent a house, we are gonna have a landlord. Hmmm. I don't know if I'm gonna like that too much. I still haven't heard about the house I want to rent, so today after school, I rode by. The owner was outside and waved at me, so I stopped. I got out and explained how much I wanted his house. He had another appointment coming today to look at it. I began a speech about how neat and clean we are even though we have three young kids, etc. He responded that he believed me because he had looked in my car yesterday while I was going through the house. Ewww. I have to admit that it was a little weird. Then again, he is considering letting my family live in his house, so I don't blame him. I passed. He said, "you can tell a lot about a person by their car, and yours was spotless." Thank goodness.
Then he went on to say that he may want to retain access to half of the basement for storage. He said he wouldn't go in the house, but he may go into the basement. Honestly, I'm not cool with that. I don't like the idea of somebody coming into the house in the middle of the night (or day) while I'm living there. Plus, I want that house specifically because of the basement. I plan to use it. I'm squeezing 5400 square feet into 3800 square feet. I know, it's still big, but we are a family of 5, and I work from home.
So, the dream rental may not become reality. I may have to spend tomorrow lining up something else, and I will be sad. But I did hear from the attorney's office today, and we are scheduled to close at 4:30 tomorrow, unless I hear otherwise. ALMOST there!

almost there

Today is the last day of the buyer's three day due diligence period. We are almost there. At 8am today, we are having a heating and air man come out to figure out why one of our units is "making a noise" that has the buyers "concerned." Even the inspector can't figure out why they cared about this. He simply recommended a service. So, that's what we're gonna do. Otherwise, the inspection was "perfect." Gotta admit, when I first heard that I freaked out a little that the sale was gonna go bust because of a noise from the air conditioning unit. My agent is slowly realizing that I'm a little bit crazy and a lot insecure.
The rental market around here is bleak. There just aren't many rentals with at least 4 bedrooms, room for me to do my massages, room for our workout equipment, a fence, and access to a neighborhood pool. All for the relatively low price I wanted to pay. Go figure. I have driven the streets for 3 days and my agent has been searching too. I almost decided to pay too much for a house that fit most of our needs when I got a call yesterday from the agent. She had just found a house with every single feature I listed! It was just available for rent (was for sale), and someone was going to see it at 6pm. So, of course, she had gotten us an appointment for 4:30. I made the offer on the spot. Now I couldn't sleep last night waiting to hear. The couple wanted to talk it over last night and let us know today. I'm a little scared because I took my baby with me. They are middle eastern, and we, first of all, forgot to remove our shoes. Then he mentioned how baby's "eat cereal everywhere" and he has white carpet. My agent insisted repeatedly how spotless my house is, and I threw in the fact that we are very strict and I own my own carpet cleaner, etc. Guess we'll have to wait and see. Still, I give props to my agent for even finding it. That's why she's got the reputation she has.
When I can, I'll update about today's events. It will be a big day. Hell, it's been a big week. Best birthday ever.

Suck it Monkeys!

Sorry. That's what I plan to say to the owners of this golf course when my house finally closes. That's right, our house is finally under contract! I'm still in disbelief and shock, but the agents feel sure it will close. I've been keeping it a secret until I felt sure. It was all so weird and sudden. On our bike ride Saturday, I had talked to hubby about just taking it off and forgetting about it. Then, I got a text, A TEXT!, from our agent with an offer from a couple who've not even seen it. They wanted to close this week. After that, it all happened so fast. They couldn't come, and their parents were buying it anyway (I know. I know!), so the parents flew in and out of town Sunday to see it. Loved it, made the offer, and Monday morning my phone rings off the hook with appointments. Got the inspection done, the appraisal done, both agents finding us rentals. If all goes well, they want to close tomorrow. That's 4 DAYS from first contact. My head is spinning, and I'm a little nauseous. It's not anywhere near the price we wanted, but these days, it is acceptable. If we didn't take it, who knows how long it would be before a great offer came along. And these people are a dream to work with. No contingencies. They are letting us stay till the 25th without paying rent. They offered to pay all the closing costs. And they are quick and decisive, which we love.
So, that's (hopefully) the end of my real estate saga. I see the light at the end of the tunnel, and it is bright and happy.

Our first real bike trip

We have a great bike trail about a 40 minute drive from our house. For my birthday, instead of dinner, I asked my husband to take me on a bike ride. We got great bikes last summer, but we haven't made the time to go try out the trail. Mostly because we never leave our kids. But, my mom agreed to keep them, so we were off! Wow, we had a blast. We rode about 16 miles, and it felt so good to get so thoroughly exhausted! We aren't exactly in top notch shape. Now we know that part of the trail is flat enough for the bike trailers, so next time we can take the kids with us. Today, though, was so good for us to get out by ourselves and just have fun. It's something we just don't do enough. Yes, we missed the kids, but I think we needed it. We stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way home, bike shorts and all, and ate like pigs! It was great!

I've had the best two days for my birthday, and I really needed it. Feeling much better. I'm gonna try to keep it up.

Happy Birthday to me

Hola Bebe

Every day at 2:15, I have to wake up the two little ones to go get S from kindergarden. Yesterday, I put N (3) in the car, as usual, and went to get Tiki (13 mths.). When I put the baby in the car, he was excited to see N and squealed, "gubala!" N laughed and greeted him.

I asked N what the baby said.

He answered, "He speaks Spanish."

Visit from Grandpa

S and N having cuddle time.

I love this special picture of Grandpa reaching

back in the car to hold Tiki's hand.

N and his Grandpa.


My husband's dad visited this week, and he just left today. I'm always so sad when family leaves. It's tough to have grandparents who live across the country. The boys all enjoyed Grandpa, but N especially got attached quickly and fiercely. We went to six flags Saturday, and he only had eyes from Grandpa. I'm glad, and I know it made him feel good. We only get to see him once a year because we rarely get to pack everyone up for the trip to California.

Six Flags was a blast. Our boys are fearless. It was S's treat for his 6th birthday, so he got to take a friend.

S, N and their buddy.

S's friend, S and me on the wheelie. So fun!

S, friend and my husband on the train.

Eyeball Cake

When asked what kind of cake he wanted for his birthday, S answered "strawberry." Oh yeah, and he wanted it to look like an eyeball. Yes, he is all boy.

So, here's the eyeball cake. I'm quite proud of it. I put fresh strawberries in the cake batter, which had the effect of looking a bit like blood and tissue. The frosting is cream cheese, and it was really yummy.

Now for the funny part of the story. After baking all day (cupcakes for school and the cake), we let him choose Zaxby's for dinner. Upon leaving, he begged for a gumball. We said, "choose a gumball or cake." He chose gumball. We asked several times if he knew what he was doing. We got home, and some of our closest friends and their two kids were waiting to have cake with us. We all had birthday cake, and S played with his friends, chewing his gumball. I hope it was good.

Happy Birthday to my oldest son

S turned 6 today. Of course, I can't believe how fast he's growing up. Then again, I can't really remember life before him. He came into this world and began to heal our hearts from the terrible loss of his brother the year before. He was our largest baby, at 9lbs 12 oz, yet his was the easiest and funnest birth. I remember when my husband put him on my chest after he was weighed and cleaned up. We just sat there holding him and each other and cried and cried.

As most first time parents do, and even worse because we were recovering from loosing Silas, we doted on him terribly. He nursed whenever he wanted, which was all the time. He slept whenever and where ever he wanted. He learned quickly that he could control the house with his moods. He's still slowly learning that it won't work that way forever. He's so emotional, like his mother. In fact, he is like me in most ways. It's so weird to see your own little quirks show up in another person. Makes you in awe of genetics. Unlike me, he is smart. Really smart. And he has a wonderful memory. Also unlike me.

Although he's one of the youngest in his class, he is probably the tallest. When we go somewhere, I can usually count on him helping me take care of the baby or hold my door, etc. Unless, of course, he isn't in the mood. There are plenty of those days too.

We are so proud of him. On his birthday, and on every other day too.

nothing to say

I know I haven't posted in a very long time. I just haven't had anything interesting to say. Well, I have. Tiki turned one. Did I post that? S turns 6 tomorrow. My girlfriend and I had a great trip to Alabama last week with our 5 kids during spring break. Yada yada yada. I'm depressed about the bum housing market, and sometimes I just go through the routines. Tiki is still very clingy and demanding. He's had more colds and teeth cut than any baby I know. I'm tired.
Of course, we have great days too, but I still never get around to posting. I'm more likely to write a quick facebook entry.
Things will turn around. I'm still very impressed with President Obama and confident our country will rally. I'm not, however, so confident that anyone will ever buy this house and release me.